A Red Sunset
by xoxsavvyjoyxox
Summary: Jane Swan is an average college student. She doesn't ask more of life than her break-ups and heartbreaks. She didn't think Eric Paine would be a realtionship that was any different. Eric Paine the vampire. Locked-not being continued


Disclaimer-this story is loosely attached to Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series. No copyright infringement intended

**A Red Sunset**

CHAPTER ONE: Make or Break

Today was a good day. The Seattle sun was out for a change. I didn't have college today. And Simon had just called, asking me to meet him at the nearby park, putting a gorgeous cherry on top of this gorgeous day. I sang to myself as I rambled about the apartment, thinking of Simon. His eyes were a piercing sunny blue. Those gorgeous eyes contrasted nicely with his inky, neat black hair. After one year with him I still don't believe I could honestly give a detailed description of his body, because my main focus in him, in anyone, was eyes. Eyes are the window to the soul. You can learn a lot about a person by looking into their eyes. You can see if the smile they just smiled reached the eyes, you can see their general mood, you can tell just a glimpse of their personality. You might say I have an obsession with eyes. Actually you could say a lot about me. Me, Jane Swan. You could say my brown eyes were too big. You could say that my dark mahogany hair was a little out of whack. You could say that even though I had just turned twenty, I still loved like a teenager. You could say I was different, maybe even slightly cracked and violent. Well, the list goes on. But behind all those observations I'm just your ordinary crazy college student. The only thing above average about me was my number of luckless romances. I kid you not when I tell you I've had hundreds of romances die almost as soon as they started. Starting around thirteen, I haven't had one romance that I would call a romance. I'd actually had so many break-ups and heartbreaks that my mind had made a defense against the sadness. Instead of the pain, and disappointment I luckily get numbness. I don't feel sad when he tells me he doesn't love me. I just go numb. Of course eventually I have to show my feelings on the last guy, whoever it was. But not until I wanted to. Simon was different. We met at a friend's housewarming party, and he'd commandeered my brain ever since. I was pretty crazy for him. Simon wouldn't fail me. Well, hopefully not. My cell phone rang, interrupting my speculations.

"Jane are you almost here?"

Damn. I looked at the clock on my phone. I was ten minutes late.

"Umm, no sorry Simon I'm going to leave now."

"Okay. Great see you in ten."

"Yea, love you"

Click. Hmm. What was his hurry? I ran out of the door and hurried down the stairs, knowing that the elevator would probably be quicker, but not wanting to bother.

When I arrived at the park I spotted Simon standing by our bench. The bench he'd taken me just before summer. When he'd left for Greece. I suddenly realized this would be the first time alone with him since he came back. My excitement increased exponentially as I contemplated seeing his eyes again. He saw me walking towards him, and started walking too.

"Hey Jane" he said when he reached me.

"Hello" I said locking eyes with him for a second, but then he turned away. I frowned.

"How are you?"

"Great" I grinned. I'd be even better if I could see his eyes.

He smiled timidly back. "Good. Look, I have to say something..."

"Simon?," My heart was falling in my chest. I knew all too well the signs, "Simon" I tried again.

"You're going to break up with me?" I couldn't avoid making it sound like a question.

"Yes I am. Its not you really, its just you know...feelings die, and mine kind of died." He laughed nervously.

"I just don't feel the same way I used to." He finished.

I nodded. Grateful for the numbness that was drowning my hurt.

"Well, It was fun all the same. I understand." I said nonchalantly. I didn't understand at all, but I was numb, so my feelings didn't matter much.

"Thank You. It really was nice knowing you" He smiled. Nice knowing you indeed.

He took my hand as he said this, the dropped it and walked away. I shrugged.

"Well there goes another one." I muttered. Then I laughed. It was always the same. Different variations of the line "Well it was fun. I understand" I never cried, never screamed. I hadn't had an emotional break-up for years. The laughing stopped when I realized I'd have to deal with my damn feelings when I was home and alone. Sure enough when I arrived home and sat at my computer desk, the images ran through my head, and Simon's face starred in my mind's re-run of all our good times. My shield broke completely when I realized that only this morning, I'd thought Simon was different and good. I couldn't deny I was sad now. Damn his eyes were beautiful. It was the first thing I noticed about him, and the last as he turned away and walked away. God that small space under the desk looked inviting. Pathetic. Pathetic. I am the most pathetic excuse for...I let my thoughts trail off in that general direction as I so often do. A tear fell down from my eye clumsily. So stupidly. Pathetic.

"I just don't feel the same way I used to" I imitated his gruff voice. What a pig. A beautiful pig though. It was amazingly pathetic how I wanted to curl up with the disappointment, simply because he left. Thankfully for my pride, I didn't curl up into a ball. My friends were probably down at the Baltic Room dancing, drinking and being generally happy. I loved that place. It wasn't a night club at all really. Just a place that offered drinks and dancing. The bartender was nice..he let me sneak a few even though I was a year underage. I rarely did though. It was always enough just to dance, or sit and watch. Suddenly smiling, I made a decision to go there. Friends? Already there. Drinks?Maybe one. Dancing? Only by myself. I looked at my cell phone. Apparently it had taken half an hour to move over this almost romance. My blood thrilled with anticipation. The kind of anticipation that comes when you realize some things never change, like your local dance club.

When I walked in I headed for the couch booth that my friends usually took up. They were all there, and there were many smiles and jokes thrown at me as I sat, the lights bounced off my skin. One of my closer friends, Juliet turned to me.

"Where's Simon Janey?" She asked unknowingly.

"Who cares" I replied, unmoved.

Juliet exchanged a knowing look with Haley, another friend

"Wanna drink guys?" she asked, both Haley and me knowing she was talking only to us.

"Virgin" I replied

"Non-virgin" Haley giggled. She had just turned twenty-one a month ago.

"We are surprisingly immature for our age" I laughed. It was true. We should all go back to high school.

We walked over to the bar, where the barman greeted us cordially.

"Hello ladies, let me guess Cosmo for Haley, Virgin Mary for Jane and water for Julie?"

"You know us too well Bernie" Juliet said, nodding,

"So what happened?" Juliet and Haley chorused, turning on me.

"Nothing. It was a very clean break-up. I didn't throw a punch."

They laughed.

"Well screw him anyway. He had a horrible nose" Haley informed me.

I laughed

"Thanks Bernie" I said as he handed me my drink.

"Jane!" Gary, her steady boyfriend, called from the other table.

"Coming babe!" she yelled back. Fun, beautiful Jane. I thought as she ran across to talk to him. I turned to see Haley walking to the bathroom.

"Bye Hales" I muttered.

I sat there alone, but not lonely. I thought about maybe getting something actually alcoholic, then decided against it. Alcohol wasn't something I really enjoyed enough to get in trouble for. I liked my Virgin Mary. I sipped my drink, and looked critically at the dancers. I could dance I thought, then decided just to sit here.

"Excuse me but there was this song in the car and it was telling me to look for the girl with sparkling eyes?"

I turned to see a tall, brown-eyed man standing behind me, smiling. His eyes were a pretty brown, somehow reddish. His smile reached his eyes, adding even more depth to them. His hair was a mess of dirty blond, falling into his eyes. Beautiful brown eyes, and blond hair. It was the opposite of Simon. I smiled.

"Is that your usual pick up line?" I asked

"Not entirely, usually I use 'girl with the broken smile' but theres _nothing_ broken about you."  
"Ah" I said, my thoughts were jumbled with his smile.

"...And your eyes really do sparkle."

"Thats nice. But I just came here to dance tonight." I said thinking of 'Guilty Pleasure' by Cobra Starship. I thought about that song when I was here. He smiled, almost wickedly.

"And I came here to make you dance tonight."

I looked at him, pondering if he could read minds. Then smiled and walked over to Juliet whose eyes were dancing happily from his face to mine. I could still feel his eyes, watching as I walked away. Why couldn't guys just be nice like they used to and ask "May I have this dance please?" I thought thinking about Dane Cook, the comedian who did a skit on that.

"Who was that?" Juliet sang as I sat by her and Gary. God knows where Haley was.

"I don't know" I said innocently. She looked exasperated.

"Jane. You just broke up. Maybe you should find out who he is."

"I'm good thanks. I'm not looking for another break up, they're fun and all but.." I stopped, and started laughing at the face she was making at me.

"Suit yourself" she said, disappointed.

I sat there, in the group, trying desperately to follow the conversation but failing. I was too distracted. His eyes were so _strange. _How could they have had that reddish tint, and still be a lovely brown? I was rather dazzled by him, and I hated myself for admitting it.

I was vaguely aware of a new song starting. It was an upbeat song, maybe Muse. I wasn't sure.

"May I have this dance, please?...Or should I just come up like BAM out of nowhere?"

I looked up to see him staring down at me with his eyes, and smiling. How did he manage to make my mind so jumbled with only a play of his eyes, or a smile? Wait...how did he know that Dane Cook line? Strange.

"Are you my stocker?" I asked.

"Why would you accuse me of that?" He asked innocently.

"One. Because I have a thing for eyes, so complimenting my eyes would be the best pick up line. Two. I think about the song 'Guilty Pleasure' every time I come here. Three you just used a line that I was just thinking about."

"Damn it" He said, fake irritation touching his wondrous eyes.

"What did I do?" I asked, actually generally worried that I'd done something wrong.

"Its just that there's no cliché for similarities attract" He said. Amused. But it sounded like he was delivering a practiced part for a movie.

"That's because I'm not a cliché person." I said, giving him my sweetest smile.

"No. You're not." He said seriously. "I'm Eric Paine"

"Hello Eric" I said. Eric Paine. It sounded like something out of an 18th century novel, or history book. I suppressed a sigh as I realized he was waiting for my name.

"I'm Jane" I said

"Jane...?"

"Jane" I repeated. He wasn't getting my last name, even though I knew he was asking for it.

"One dance?" he pleaded. It was an appealing offer. But I was determined not to encourage him in any way.

"No." I smirked.

He scrutinized my face for a second then said "By the end of tonight." It was a statement.

He turned and walked away. I wondered if he could feel my eyes on his back, like I had felt his on mine as I walked away.

Juliet giggled beside me. I had completely forgotten her existence!

"I don't believe you Jane, he's unbelievably gorgeous."

"Lets dance" I said pulling her up, laughing

We made our way to the space that was unofficially reserved for dancing. Bodies were close together and the heat was radiating off of everybody's skin. I started dancing. I danced well, I was told. I didn't know I just let go. After around ten minute I looked up and saw that a big, muscled guy was dancing against me. I didn't let that stop me. I thought I'd just mess with him for a while. It wouldn't matter. But I couldn't help feeling a little guilty as I recalled that I had just turned down Eric. We danced together for around ten more minutes. I kind of zoned out again. Next thing, his hands were around my waist. No. not waist. They were winding their way down from the waist. Anger flared through me. Stop it, Just stop it. I kicked him into the crowd. Not hard I swear. I looked up to see Eric staring from across the hall. I gave him my best 'Would you like to be next ?' look and turned. One second, two...He was there already.

"Umm..Wow fast much?" I said, thrown off by his unexpected speed.

"Did I scare you?" he asked, amused, but his tone was off.

"Not much" I lied. "Do I fascinate you so much that you feel the need to follow me tonight?" I asked. Also amused now.

"Are you going to dance with me now?" He asked. Apparently he thought I was going to ignore the fact that he hadn't answered. I sighed.

"Why not?" I said, not hiding my reluctance.

He chuckled.

Suddenly he was staring into my eyes intensely.

"Yes you do fascinate me." He said with his smooth,velvet voice. The reddish tint in his eyes flared. I looked away. I looked away because eyes were my weakness, and he had eyes that made my heart lift in that familiar way.

"Lets just dance" I said

And we did dance, and he didn't stop until Juliet was at my shoulder.

"Umm, Jane? I was going to leave now. You have a car right?" Obviously she was hoping I would stay. Well I wasn't going to stay. The clock by the bar said it was 12:35 AM. I had to leave, despite the fact that I was perfectly happy in his arms.

"Bye." I said, almost whispered. I was ridiculous. I already liked him. A lot.

"If you don't have a car, I could give you a ride now, if you'd like?" He asked, an almost irresistible temptation, but I did have a car, and I'm sure Haley needed a ride home.

"No thanks" I said as I disentangled myself from him. He seemed strangely out of place in the modern surroundings. The lights were doing odd things to his skin. I left, saying goodnight to Bernie, and sought out Haley, who was already waiting at my car. The sun was a dim, bloody red as it disappeared on the clouded horizon.

"Jesus Jane." she said, as I reached the car. She was grinning though, so I knew she'd seen me dancing with Eric.

"Sorry Haley." I said

I was about to step from the sidewalk when I heard his already familiar voice.

"Hey!"

Eric was running gracefully up the sidewalk towards me. He arrived breathless, and gorgeous in front of me.

"Hey you." I said, amused that I had my own Labrador like friend in one night.

"Talk to me" He said. I could detect a desperate undertone to his voice, I wondered if I was supposed to notice that.

"Ha Ha" I laughed at him.

"Okay.." He said realizing I thought he was acting strange "Talk to me Saturday" Again, it wasn't a question. It was a statement.

A blush warmed my skin in the cold air.

"That depends on who does the talking." I said, not wanting to make him think I wanted to give him my life's story simply because he'd danced with me all night long.

There was a pause. Apparently he wasn't sure how to answer that, or he was unwilling to accept terms that involved me not talking to him.

"I'll see you at five on Saturday" Why did he have to state, and not ask? How did he know that my mind, and my heart were already saying 'Yes'

I nodded and smiled

'Okay, here." I took my notebook out of my purse and scribbled down my address and cell phone number, underneath my full name, and handed it to him. When our hands touch, I almost jerked back because they were so cold. I was sure they hadn't been that electrically cold in the hall.

"Jane Swan" he said. Smiling. His smile grew, and I turned shakily to my car and got in, with Haley waiting impatiently. I sneaked a glance at him as I pulled out. He was still smiling. I could see his amazing eyes dancing from here.


End file.
